Palestinian Militant Group Indicates Shift in Israeli Policy

A top Hamas leader says the Palestinian militant group is willing to discuss options for statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as a truce with Israel.

Hassan Youssef, the top Hamas official in the West Bank, is quoted by news agencies as saying the group could accept a long-term truce and the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, a reference to lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.

The comments may indicate a shift in Hamas' long-standing policy of destroying Israel and replacing it with a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, earlier Friday, Israeli troops shot dead a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group in the West Bank. Israeli army officials say the militant was carrying a weapon when he was shot.